Patients at the Kilifi County Referral Hospital have complained of congestion and poor services besides lack of drugs and other critical medical supplies.
Mr Tawa Sarai, who got an accident and broke his leg, was brought to the facility in July but his leg has not been fixed to date.
He said the hospital has only one orthopedic surgeon who checks on patients once every week and sometimes fails to show up.
"I got an accident on July 26 and was brought here. I was given my dose for one week, after that I was told that the dose is complete. I was to be treated last Monday but it did not happen as we are told there's only one surgeon," he said.
Apart from that, he added that patients are forced to buy medicine and other implements, including pain killers.
"We buy medicine and the food is bad. My bill is now Sh26,000 yet I have not even been treated and we are also sharing beds" he said.
Mr Richard Charo, another patient, said he was asked by the doctor to buy a bone plate to fix his leg because the hospital does not have any in stock.
"I was told to buy the bone plate which I bought. They always tell me to wait for Monday which never arrives. My bill is now Sh40,000," he said.
The old wing of the hospital is a contrast to the newly unveiled Sh700 million Kilifi Medical Complex that sits in the same compound. The Medical Complex was built during the regime of former Governor Amason Kingi and is currently in use.
"We have one of the best hospitals in the region dubbed the Kilifi County Medical Complex with state-of-the-art theatres and equipment. A patient in Kilifi will not need to travel outside for specialised treatment," said Mr Kingi. He added that the facility provides critical services such as an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), High Dependency Unit (HDU) and dialysis. "I can say I am leaving a county that can take care of itself in terms of healthcare," Kingi said.
Kingi challenged Governor Gideon Mung'aro to equip the medical complex and other facilities in the county instead of going for new buildings.
Mr Mung'aro, who visited the two facilities, came face to face with patients with huge hospital bills. He promised to address the matter.
"We have seen the old wing which has a lot of challenges such as lack of medicine and it is too old for use. We have also toured the new wing. More needs to be done," he said.
The governor is banking on the swearing-in of the Kilifi Members of County Assembly who will then pass a supplementary budget to fix gaps in the Health sector.
"I'm waiting for MCAs to be sworn in so that we can prepare a supplementary budget to cater for things that are critical for this hospital and the others," he said.
On beds, he said: "We will consult the hospital management to see if patients at the old wing can be moved to the new wing since there are empty beds there."
Mungaro added: We are also going to purchase machines, and patients should not be retained in the hospital because of bills. We want to ensure that residents do not travel outside the county for medical services."
